Alternate Tales of The Goddess: A Hakurei who Opposes Gensokyo
by Jouhei The Controversial Guy
Summary: This is the story of Shuujinkou Hakurei. Just the next Hakurei Birther. To say she hates her Fate is an understatement. So she decides to absolutely destroy Gensokyo to be free. Thus with her Persona by her side, her classmates and a lolita mage, Shuujinkou begins her resistance and her assault on Gensokyo. In the background, Lunarians and Hell plan around this force of humanity.
1. Chapter 1

Foreword: Finally got off my ass and wrote something new! Enjoy! Oh yeah, the whole copyright thing: Touhou Project belongs to Team Shanghai Alice/ZUN and Persona belongs to ATLUS please check out the official releases. Shuujinkou Hakurei, Gin Izayoi, Yoko Kamiyama and Mu are unofficial characters and none of these characters, themes and other things are related to real life events nor real people living or dead.

She was standing in the middle of a beautiful field of grass. Her golden hair reached her ankles, her purple night gown seemed very confortable, she was barefoot, her eyes were golden, like her hair. This woman stood before another girl, she had long black hair that reached her back, she wore a black shirt and shorts, her pale skin made her look like a doll.

"Greetings, you must be Shuujinkou Hakurei yes? I invite you to follow me." The woman spoke relaxed, as if she knew what Shuujinkou would say, she was sure the girl would comply.

"I refuse." Shuujinkou replied in an almost robotic tone.

"My my, you would throw away an opportunity to live in a paradise? Magic, adventure, mystery and drama await you Shuujinkou Hakurei." The woman replied somewhat surprised.

"I don't trust you, why should I believe a woman who appeared in my dreams and offers me to live in a fantasy world?" Shuujinkou spoke unamused.

"Aren't you bored with this world? Of how filled with hypocrites it is? Of the stupidity of the human race?" The woman spoke in a tempting tone.

"Running away doesn't fix the issue. Also, how highly you think yourself to be above other humans?" Shuujinkou replied bored.

"I am Yukari Yakumo, a Youkai. I am quite above humans so I have all rights to speak like this." Yukari's voice darkened.

"Youkai? Those aren't real, just fiction and if they _did_ exist, they would've turned humans into livestock already." Shuujinkou stared coldy at Yukari.

"I seem to have misspoken, you are going to preserve tradition within Gensokyo, we Youkai need a Hakurei Shrine Maiden and thus we have come in search of your aid, can't you help us?" Yukari shifted into a false innocence tone.

"You don't exist, nor does this place you speak of. If it does, then I will personally make sure it disappears." Shuujinkou's eyes began glowing in a pale blue.

As if she was a weak Youkai, Yukari felt her strength leave her. Shuujinkou had begun removing her from existence, her power as "The Eyes" had awakened and nothing would change her mind. Yukari escaped, she didn't have much time left and if Shuujinkou remembered this dream, it would spell doom for all her hard work, all of her hard work until that point would've been for nothing.

Chapter 1: The Girl Who Dreamed of Paradise

Lunar Palace Kounan district in Sumaru City. An apartment complex north of Ebisu Beach, inside one of it's apartments lives Shuujinkou Hakurei along with her parents. The room was well illuminated, not too bright yet not too dark, Shuujinkou had fallen from her bed and made a loud *thud* upon landing on her own face, the pain of the fall wasn't too much, she had gotten used to falling to wake up.

"Gensokyo, I must find it and I must destroy it." Shuujinkou spoke emptily.

"Dear? Are you up?" A woman's voice spoke from beyond the door.

"With how loud that noise was, she is more than awake." A man's voice spoke from beyond the door as well.

"Make sure to put on your uniform, school starts today!" The woman's voice spoke cheerfully.

And so she did, a black colored, sailor uniform with a green tie and a short black skirt, she wasn't too happy to wear this uniform, but she would have to wait until she graduated to wear what she wanted. She exited her room and greeted her parents with her usual cold stare, it wasn't that she disliked them, in fact she loved her parents, her skills with people however are very limited. Her father Reiji Hakurei was a man in his late 30s, his black hair was tied up in a ponytail and he wore a black business suit that matched his wife and daughter's attires. The mother, Serafina Shefield was a woman in her early 40s, her attire consisted of a business suit like Reiji's. Her hair was black, short and wavy with her skin being as pale as Shuujinkou's giving her a doll-like appearance that her daughter inherited, which complimented their mostly deadpan attitude, although for different reasons.

"Eat breakfast, we can't have you sleeping in class so take your toast and run to school, you have an hour to arrive." Reiji spoke while handing Shuujinkou some toasted bread.

"Have a good first day!" Serafina waved goodbye as Shuujinkou left the complex.

She took a bus to reach the Rengedai district and walked the rest of the distance between Honmaru Park and Seven Sisters Highschool. Within a classroom in the school a man wearing a gray suit and had his long, black hair tied in a ponytail, he seemed like a teacher.

"Alright! Today we have a transfer student joining our class, you may step in!" The teacher spoke in a calming voice.

"Introduce yourself, you want people to know your name." The teacher smiled as he spoke.

"..." Shuujinkou knew how to speak, she just didn't know what to say or add to her introduction.

"Hey Teach! Does she even know Japanese!?" An annoyed girl spoke from behind the classroom.

"Let her be, she's just different, try to respect others if you want attention so badly." The teacher spoke in a stern tone.

"..." She was pondering for a full five minutes on what to say, until she decided to keep it simple and general.

"My name is Shuujinkou Hakurei." Shuujinkou spoke in a cold tone of voice.

"Nice meeting ya' weirdo, you look like a damn toy, act like a shy girl and are a total Ice Queen." A red haired girl spoke from the back of the room.

"That's enough Marisa." The teacher scolded the girl from the back.

"Hakurei-kun, seat on the center part of the classroom, next to Kamiyama" The teacher instructed Shuujinkou to sit next to a girl with bobbed, black hair and soft-looking skin.

"Do not pay much attention to Kirisame-san's comments, she just intends to show the worst of you." Kamiyama tried to break the ice once Shuujinkou sat down next to her, Shuujinkou however, didn't answer.

"Stand!" The teacher ordered the students to perform their morning vows and class began.

During lunchtime, a student wearing the same uniform Shuujinkou and Kamiyama with short, wavy and red colored hair approached the two, her face had a mischievous smile.

"Sup' Yoko! Buttering up the new girl?" The girl spoke teasingly.

"Kirisame-san, is there something you wish to discuss? If not then you can kindly leave." Yoko replied in a respectful and dignified tone.

"Geez, here I came to apologize to her and you just kick me out? Shame on you." Kirisame shrugged.

"Who are you again?" Shuujinkou asked bewildered.

"Huh!? Well, get that wax of yer' ears cuz I'm only saying it once!" Kirisame began to boast.

"Alright." Shuujinkou replied while sticking her fingers in her ears.

"Are you making fun of me?" Kirisame's tone darkened.

"No, if you paid attention to other people besides yourself, you would have heard that Hakurei-san here is unable to understand double meanings." Yoko pressed her thumb and index finger against her eyes.

"Hey, where do I put all this ear wax?" Shuujinkou asked with a small ball of ear wax on her hand, it reeked horribly.

"Ze?" Kirisame had a face that just screamed: "It's not a joke is it?"

"Just put it inside the trash bin." Yoko spoke rather annoyed at Shuujinkou's mindset.

"Alright." Shuujinkou stood up and put the small ball of disgusting material inside the trash bin and returned to her seat.

"Okay then, that aside. My name's Marisa Kirisame, future Prime Minister of Japan and hottest girl at Sevens!" Marisa posed dramatically as she spoke.

"In Japanese, she wants to be important." Yoko sweatdropped.

"Okay." Shuujinkou answered with very little interest.

"If that's all, then we shall take our leave. Come with me Hakurei-san" Yoko quickly stood up and dragged Shuujinkou away from Marisa.

As the two left, a strange piece of paper flew into Shuujinkou's hands, it read: "I await you at Sumaru Prison in Hirasaka" from Captain Death.

"A Kasugayama student is aware of your presence? Something seems strange about this." Yoko spoke as she read the letter.

"Cause your gay ass mama?" Shuujinkou tilted her head while asking.

"Ka-soo-guh-yu-muh, some just call it Cuss High." Yoko corrected as she shrugged.

"Welp, you're done for then. Captain Death isn't one to send pointless invitations. So I recommend going now before his flunkies beat you up tomorrow." Marisa spoke from behind the two.

"How do you know that!?" Yoko turned to Marisa and asked with a piercing glare in her eyes.

"Unlike you, I pay attention to what happens to others besides me." Marisa smiled mischievously after repeating what Yoko told her.

"Where is Sumaru Prison?" Shuujinkou asked from behind the two.

"Oh! I forgot you existed for a second, it's in Hirasaka, northwest from here." Marisa smiled and left to eat.

"Come with me, I have a means to arrive there quickly." Yoko dragged Shuujinkou to the back of the school.

In the back, aside from many bikes there was a gray motorcycle among them with two helmets near them. Yoko took said bike and prepared it to leave school.

"Put on that helmet and whatever happens. Don't. Let. Go." Yoko put on a helmet and gave Shuujinkou the other one, with both helmets on and a key inserted into the bike, the two rode to Hirasaka.

As they rode towards Sumaru Prison, Shuujinkou saw a red motorcycle pass by them with it's rider seeming familiar to her. The two pass by Smile Hirasaka and head straight for the Prison. Sumaru Prison, inside one of it's cells was a young man with a blue uniform, he wore glasses and had rather messy but short, black hair. He had an aura of authority and leadership.

"What do you want Captain Death? Why call a transfer student?" Yoko asked while on edge.

"Huh? I'm not Captain Death, Captain Death was a rumored student in 2000. You're thinking of Gin, The Southern Gale, he's the most feared student in school this year, but he's actually real sweet. Just don't mention the incident three years ago." The student replied in a very easygoing tone.

"Then who sent this?" Yoko interrogated the student while showing the letter.

"Hmm? Oh I see what's up. Hahaha! You got pranked by Mishina from Sevens." The student laughed and smiled at the two.

"A prank? What is that?" Shuujinkou asked innocently.

"A prank is a jest of sorts, immature students pull them on others to make themselves look good." Yoko shrugged.

"Oi, Ren! What's with the Sevens girls!? Didn't you already have a girl living in Tokyo!?" A somewhat feminine voice spoke from outside.

"Oh! Hiya Gin! I was just talking about you." Ren replied to a young, handsomer man with fair skin and black hair in the same messy style as his, he too wore the blue Kasugayama uniform.

"I told you already, I'm not interested!" Gin snapped at Ren angrily.

"Come on you two, introduce yourselves to Gin here. He doesn't bite, just tell him why you're here." Ren smacked the backs of both girls, startling Yoko and making Shuujinkou turn around to face him.

"Ahem! My name is Yoko Kamiyama, we came since the rumored Captain Death had challenged us to come here." Yoko spoke at a high speed from the nerves Gin's intimidating aura provoked.

"..." Shuujinkou remained silent.

"And her? What's with her creepy stare?" Gin pointed at Shuujinkou annoyed at her silence.

"Ahem! Hakurei-san, can you introduce yourself please?" Yoko cleared up her throat signaling Shuujinkou to speak up.

"Hmmm,where have I heard that name before? Don't mind me, just thinking something!" Ren smiled awkwardly.

"Shuujinkou Hakurei." Shuujinkou introduced herself in a cold tone, she didn't know how to express herself at that moment.

"I'm Gin, Gin Izayoi. This dumbass here is Ren Amamiya, a fellow delinquent." Gin replied angrily and left for the school grounds.

"Gin's not a bad person, he just has a hard time with girls. Kinda shy." Ren smiled and left after Gin.

"Guess that's our cue, let's leave Hakurei-san." Yoko dragged Shuujinkou towards the exit.

The two rode the motorcycle back to Sevens with enough time left to eat lunch. Classes had ended for the day and Shuujinkou was thinking of returning home as quickly as possible to avoid trouble. Mysteriously, all light was starting to fade away, the school was enveloped in darkness, students were panicking and running around school, chaos was rampant in the building, teachers trying to keep students under control and students attempting to escape the building but finding themselves unable due to a mysterious force.

"We're all gonna DIIIIIEEEEE!" A student screamed in fear as he ran past the unfazed Shuujinkou.

"First Kyoto, then Inaba, Tokyo had similar happenings last year too. Why here and why now!?" A teacher spoke angrily.

"S-stay away from meeeeeeeee! Waaaaaaa!" A female voice screamed from behind Shuujinkou causing her to turn around.

"What are you?" Shuujinkou asked coldly to the creature that had torn the student to shreds, amidst the blood and innards there was a figure of a small girl with brown hair tied with a white headband, she wore a white dress and had a strange mark on her left hand.

"Me? I'm Nadja! Hmmm, wait are you perhaps a Hakurei?" The girl calling herself Nadja asked playfully, she had enjoyed tearing the girl apart, this was apparent since she was playing around with said girl's guts as if they were some sort of toy.

"Yes." Shuujinkou replied coldly.

"Can I eat you? Your blood should be good enough for me to become strong enough to take over the city." Nadja prepared to lunge at Shuujinkou.

"Save her! Deathbringer!" A female voice shouted as suddenly Shuujinkou had been teleported to another spot of the area.

"Huh!?" Nadja started to look around the area trying to find Shuujinkou.

"Vile demon! I have come to purge the world of your evil! Prepare to be exterminated!" A girl wearing the Seven Sisters uniform with a red ribbon instead of a green tie like Shuujinkou's jumped out of the darkness and posed as she delivered a very cheesy speech to the girl, her hair was black and is wavy compared to Shuujinkou's straight hair, even if they're the same length.

"Oh, you're one of _those_ types of people, the ones who think that they're special and jump straight to battle and die first, how quaint." Nadja smiled devilishly and focused her sights on the girl before her.

"Deathbringer attack!" The girl posed as she spoke, Nadja backflipped away from a sudden hole that appeared on the floor, as if a spear had been used to pierce through the floor.

"Not half bad, but you lack the experience to win against me!" Nadja boasted as she pushed her open palm towards the girl, a strange burst of wind blew by and was avoided by the girl sidestepping to her left.

"Finish it Deathbringer!" The girl did an iconic pose from a rather popular anime at the time which involved pointing at the opponent with just her index finger on top while bending her arm in a V shape. Nadja was suddenly impaled in an invisible spear, she reached into the ceiling and disolved into gray smoke.

"Oh yeah! Extermination complete!" The girl posed by placing the back of her right hand on her hip while the back of her left hand was on her forehead, she was inclining her hips to her right and she smiled innocently.

"..." Shuujinkou was quiet, she was trying to piece together what had happened before her eyes.

"No need to thank me, I just happened to be near the place. I wonder just jow many are in your position now, it's not fair Senpai, if you were here, we could team up..." The girl spoke in a somewhat dark tone about an upperclassman, Shuujinkou wondered about who did she refer to.

"..." Shuujinkou stared at the girl for a minute trying to understand why she posed so much.

"Are you okay? You're awfully quiet." The girl spoke in a sisterly tone.

"..." Shuujinkou nodded.

"Hmmmm, oh! I know! I'm Sanae Yasaka, a second year student at this school! What's your name?" Sanae spoke in a friendly tone.

"..." Shuujinkou stayed silent.

"Uhhh, please? I want to know your name." Sanae sweatdropped.

"Hakurei, Shuujinkou Hakurei." Shuujinkou spoke out of the blue in her usual empty tone.

"Hakurei? Sounds familiar. It's also a mouthful so I guess I'll just call you Rei-chan or maybe Shuujin-kun, oh I got it! Shu-chan! How about it?" Sanae was smiling while thinking of a nicknae for Shuujinkou.

"..." Shuujinkou returned to being silent.

"No good? How about Reimu? Sounds similar enough right?" Sanae put her hands behind her neck as she spoke.

"No." Shuujinkou snapped at Sanae angrily, she wasn't shouting, instead her bored looking stare turned into one that exuded sheer intimidation.

"Eep! Guess just Shuu?" Sanae's eyes widened as she spoke nervously.

"..." Shuu didn't reply, however her stare returned to being the usual bored looking one.

"Fear not... Take my hand..." A muffled and dry voice spoke.

"Who's there!?" Sanae started to look around on guard.

"..." Shuu started to sweat uncontrollably, she was in immense pain, but she didn't show how painful her experience is.

"I am thou... thou art I..." The voice spoke once more.

"What the!? Deathbringer calm down!" Sanae became nervous, to make things even more unsettling for Shuu, a strange figure appeared behind Sanae, it was that of a woman with green hair styled similarly to Sanae's holding a ancient looking spear while hunched over, she wore a Shinto Priestess outfit that was torn up in many pieces revealing lizard-like skin, it's face was that of a green eyed snake's with sharp fangs.

"Tch." Shuu felt even more pain than before, her entire body felt like it was about to burst.

"From the sea of thy soul I cometh..." The entity behind Sanae also spoke extending the "s" sounds like a snake, her voice was arrogant and self-righteous.

"Deathbringer!?" The snake woman became a lot more visible, she floated in front of Sanae as if to guard her.

"I am Mishaguji, I shall Curse thine enemies and serve The Suwa Gods unwaveringly." The snake woman spoke extending the "s".

" I... am Hakurei-Kami… I shall exterminate all filth!" A featureless and genderless figure whose color changes between Black and White constantly wearing a blindfold, a mouth gag, a pair of headphones that contrasted it's current color and was hanging from it's scarf spoke in it's muffled and dry voice, it was holding a stick on it's left hand.

"N-no way! You had one too!? Why did it awaken now!?" Sanae spoke shocked.

"…" Shuu didn't respond, she was too busy observing the creature that floated before her.

"Follow me! If we can lift this darkness maybe the demons will go away!" Sanae dragged Shuu around the school fighting Zombie students, Ghosts, Pixies and even Hanako-san looking for the cause of the darkness.

Even after searching all the school, the two found no exit nor the cause of the darkness. After considering giving up and letting the demons massacre the school Shuu had an idea, she departed towards the clocktower the school had, it was the only place they hadn't investigated yet. The door was locked however.

"Awww, it's locked. I thought I could finally see normal lighting again..." Sanae complained, her mood had become rather dark after all the wandering aimlessly around the school.

"..." Shuu broke the door with a single swing of Hakurei-Kami's stick, it's puppet-like movements disturb Sanae to no end.

"Why is your Deathbringer so creepy?" Sanae sighed as she spoke.

"Because thou art graceful while Hakurei is more intimidating, thou hath already spoken it." Deathbringer spoke to her host.

"Hakurei-san!" A familiar voice spoke from behind the two girls.

"..." Shuu turns around to find a trembling Yoko armed with a mop of all things.

"You know her Shuu?" Sanae asked while smiling.

"I'm Yoko Kamiyama, Hakurei-san's classmate. Glad to meet you senpai." Yoko bows upon introducing herself.

"Ah, Shuu and Yo-chan. You should hide somewhere, Ghosts love this area for some reason." Sanae pointed towards a crowd of Ghosts near the stairs leading to the ccurrent floor.

"G-g-g-g-ghosts!? I-I-I-I-I'm n-not scared of them! Not a b-bit!" Yoko stuttered uncontrollably, she was not scared of ghosts, she was terrified of them.

"She didn't notice them?" Mishaguji spoke annoyed.

"Where'd that come from!?" Yoko jumped startled.

"Oh yeah, Yoko, meet Mishaguji, my Deathbringer. Shuu has one too, Hakurei-Kami." Sanae spoke nonchalantly of the beings that accompanied them.

"You can control them!?" Yoko spoke impressed.

"Kinda, Shuu has full control of her's, mine is a bit rash." Sanae sighed.

"Huh, Hakurei-san _does_ seem calm about this. How'd y- WAAAAAAAAAHH!" Yoko was suddenly grabbed by her uniform's collar by what looked like a black appendage from within the clocktower and dragged her inside.

"..." Shuu walked into the clocktower with Sanae following suit quickly to save Yoko.

Afterword: Phew! A long chapter to begin in, a bit of behind the scenes trivia from me. Shuujinkou's name was at one point Reimu as well, she wasn't ever going to be the same girl, they're related, how? Shuu is Reimu's counterpart in terms of the Hakurei family in the outside world. Another trivia piece involving the protagonist, Shujinko translates to "Head of Family", " Heroine" or "Protagonist", however this protagonist is more of a pun in terms of name, Shuujin can mean " Inmate" or "Prisioner" the -kou is a pun since her mother would pronounce it as -ko which is a generic sufix for female names, which would make it be more along the lines of "Prison Child" why would her parents name her this? Because she is Fate's Prisoner, stuck as a target for the supernatural, or it could mean that she is trapped in her own mind, since she's not very socially skilled and thus stuck in her little world unable to be understood nor understand others easily. The Persona or Deathbringer as Sanae calls it is more referential to Shuu's personal philosophy, which I'll go into later. Though the stick is meant to be a broken Gohei(a wand used in purification, Reimu cleaved a dude in two with it thus it can too) and the rest of the design is meant to symbolize closer to the actual Deity and less Reimu herself since Shuu has never talked to Reimu. On the topic of Sanae Yasaka, she's a pure Megaten reference, Sanae is more of a Subarashiki kono Sekai reference(like Sanae Hanekoma) and the Yasaka is a nod to Nocturne's Chiaki Yasaka. Her Persona Mishaguji that she usually called Deathbringer is indeed a reference to Suwako Moriya from Touhou, although it borrows more from Sanae Kochiya in terms of appearance and Hazama's Ouroboros chains from Blazblue in terms of uses you'll see why later. The term Deathbringer is a reference to Eikichi Mishina who called his Persona Radhamathus Deathbringer or Death Spirit which is more of a JoJo reference as well since Part 3 Protagonist Jotaro Kujo mistook his stand Star Platinum for an Evil Spirit. Yoko is indeed a Youmu reference, her fear of ghosts, the haircut and being kinda stuck up at times, though Yoko is somewhat closer to Reisen since she's the type to avoid fighting if possible and has some shades of Marisa in terms of being the first person the plot's main Hakurei befriends. On the topic of Marisa, let's just say that Sumaru is the setting for a really good reason. Ren Amamiya is indeed the Hero from Persona 5 and I'm writing him as a misunderstood person with a tarnished record, he acts like a big brother to all around him but in a different way Narukami would, while Yu is nice and supporting, Ren is mischievous and makes one think their actions even if he can be a bit cocky and arrogant at times. Gin, hoo boy where do I start? Gin is a foil to Ren and an expy of Eikichi with some shades of Reiji by being actively intimidating and trying to push people away to contrast Ren. And being very stuck in his past and obsessed with atoning like the other 2.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Phantom Memory of an Esteemed Companion**

Inside the clocktower were many students' corpses all mutilated, torn apart or completely flattened, some were even turned innards outward. Amidst this carnage stood a blonde girl wearing an all black dress and brown shoes, she held a black sword in her left hand and was holding Yoko by the collar with her right. She averted her gaze from Yoko to observe Shuujinkou and Sanae whom had arrived almost immediately after, Shuujinkou had caught the girl's attention and looked very interesting to this woman. The woman chuckled at the situation.

"Wh-what's…so funny? Ugh!" Yoko tried to speak only for the woman's grip to become stronger making it harder for her to breathe.

"Let go of Yo-chan demon!" Sanae pointed at the woman while her guard was up.

"It would kill the point of me being here dumbass." The woman replied in avery irritated manner.

"Just let go of her! Shuu-chan and I will exterminate you and save the school!" Sanae replied angrily, Sanae took a combat stance, she was clearly imitating a pose from an anime.

"Is that so~? How convenient! Come on Hakurei! Let's go back home!" The woman threw Yoko at Sanae and began beckoning Shuujinkou near her to fight.

"What're…you…up to?…" Yoko asked as she coughed.

"Why to go back home! I'll leave your school just like you asked!" The woman spoke in an unsettling tone and began smiling.

"...…" Shuujinkou stared at the woman, her cold gaze made the woman take a combat stance, Shuujinkou was radiating an intimidating aura that made it clear that she was not crazy about the idea.

"Guess we are meant to fight as always, sorry…" The woman spoke with grief in her voice, as if she felt nostalgic about something tragic.

"Go…" Shuujinkou held her right hand towards the woman as Hakurei-Kami appeared behind her.

"I'm so sorry…" The woman smiled sadly as she took a more combative stance.

Shuujinkou had a rough understanding of what Hakurei-Kami could do, a "Hama" Spell that killed anything ithit in a single touch, it leaves humans unaffected to boot making it very useful for clearing mobs of weak demons. A skill called "Gurentou" where Hakurei-Kami would light it's stick on fire and cut through most things, though it seems to run on Shuujinkou's rather limited stamina. Though something she has been willing to try was trying to channel the fire with her own body since her flames didn't burn her. This woman was fierce however, she would never give Shuujinkou or Sanae the opening to get a direct hit with their newfound powers, Sanae had experience fighting and seemed to use an especially evasive martial art, it was quite more refined and graceful than Shuujinkou's seemingly random punches and kicks and Sanae's highly mobile abilities led to her swinging around the area like some ninja or Intelligence Department Captain, the snake woman she controlled didn't make it easy to NOT make those parallels in Shuujinkou's mind.

* * *

"Haa…haa… shit, Reimu was tougher than you but I'll be dammed if I say that you're not just as persistent!" The woman spoke while panting, she seems to be fond of fighting Shuujinkou.

"Who!?" Sanae asked from afar.

"An old friend, of sorts… a Hakurei just like the fine lady before me, just like her mother. I'll see them again no matter if I must throw away my pride!" The woman grabbed Yoko with more shadows and pointed at her with the sword.

"Why you! Let her go! Shuu's already fighting you just as promised!" Sanae prepared to throw a snake towards the woman, that way either drag her away from Yoko or get close enough to distract her, hoping Shuujinkou saves Yoko.

"If you do… she gets to feel decapitation first hand. Come to me Hakurei, let us return home…" The woman puts her sword at Yoko's throat, she could easily kill Yoko.

"…" Shuu dismissed Hakurei-Kami and began walking towards the woman with a cold stare.

"Shuu-chan don't!" Sanae sent Mishaguji to stop Shuujinkou.

"Hmmm? Did I hear something?" The woman smirked as she moved a bit of her sword causing Yoko to start bleeding.

"Tch!" Sanae dismissed Mishaguji as well, she felt guilty of being unable to help once more, she had dropped her guard.

"Come now, I promised to keep your clan safe. No matter what it costs me..." The woman was resolute on her choices, as long as she kept herself alive, she could amend for her failures.

Yoko felt sick, she was helpless to stop whatever that strange woman wanted to do to Shuujinkou. She really couldn't do anything, all she could do was watch as things unfolded, she sees that her very existence in the world causes others to suffer when she needs help. But something was out of place, Shuujinkou hadn't changed her expression, she wasn't the most emotional girl around, but to remain completely straight faced even in the face of danger, that girl was, suicidal, stupid, brave or a level of insane that mixed all of the above, that aside, Shuujinkou seemed confident, did she have a plan? Only Shuujinkou knows.

* * *

"….rm...…" Shuujinkou muttered under her breath.

"Eh? You have something to say yeah? Raise your voice if it's any important." The woman asked rather annoyed, she wasn't fond of Shuujinkou's muttering.

"Vaipah!" As she raised her voice to audible levels, Shuujinkou struck te woman with a flame engulfed knee. The woman was understandably shocked, or burned in her case.

"Guh! Wh!?" The woman tried gasping for air as she was being launched in the air by Shuujinkou's knee.

"Revel!" Shuujinkou performed a flip kic in the air, that violation of physics probably irritates her own OCD but she prefers results at the moment.

"Shuu-chan! Extend! Mishaguji!" Sanae used one of Mishaguji's snakes as a chain to swing over her underclasswoman's position.

"Three!" Shuujinkou ended the chain of hits with an explosive stomp, this spikes the woman onto the floor, where Sanae picked her back up and threw her into the air with Mishaguji.

"Border Slicing: The Divine Twin Blades!" Sanae yelled in a fashion it would make anime characters think was overdone and did two consecutive flip kicks into the air.

"Why…do you…resist?" The woman spoke weakly, her face had much blood she coughed out as she spoke. She got back on her feet and began to walk backwards, slowly, until she saw her darkness disappear, she was standing on the edge of one of the clocktower gears.

"No… Don't!" Sanae tried to run towards the woman, only to find herself being held back by Shuujinkou and Yoko.

"Shuujinkou Hakurei, you have proven victorious. I Rumia, yield to your might and I shall die at peace, knowing that you have become independent." The woman named Rumia spoke tiredly while smiling, her body began to fall. And fall. And fall. Slowly. Slowly. None of the girls in the room could see her anymore, the clock's gears turned, making an agonizing noise of crushed bones and torn flesh, marking 16:44. The three left to their homes without uttering a single word, the events that transpired needed very careful thought.

* * *

Shuujinkou had arrived before her mother and father, they must've been very busy at Giga-Macho and Kismet Publishing respectively. She took a bath and put on another oversized white shirt and black shorts, she had bruises and cuts all over her skin, her uniform was a mess, the skirt was half it's original length and the blazer was torn all around, she sighs and sits down in front of her computer, she logs onto her usual bookmarked pages: YeahTotes, Masked Tome, Chaos Chat and Occult Eyes for The Dammed feat. Osaka's Psychic. As she was listening one of her favorite songs, a social critique done by a band known as Tool, she noticed that Occult Eyes of The Dammed had updated and had a report on the disappearance of a school in Osaka, according to Osaka's Psychic, she had lost all contact with the place that very morning and had been attacked by strange creatures. Shuujinkou had an idea of what had happened to the Psychic.

"Those were demons" Shuujinkou posted as Luna Badgirl.

"Demons? Never heard of them" 40th thief posted.

"You know of 'em Luna?" Osaka's Psychic posted.

"Yep, got one at my command even" Shuujinkou replied.

"I'll PM you now so we can talk in peace" Osaka's Psychic replied.

"Aww I wanted to know too" 40th thief posted.

"So you say that you have a demon to command? How does that work?" Osaka's Psychic sent the Private Message to Shuujinkou.

"It appeared right after I saw some girl fight a demon that tried to kill me" Shuujinkou replied.

"How does it look like? Does it have a cool power?" Osaka's Psychic replied.

"It's genderless, it glows and rarely speaks. It called itself Hakurei-Kami which is ironic to say thto insideuujinkouhuujinkou posted.

"You know of the Hakurei family?" Osaka's Psychic replied confused.

"Know them? I AM one" Shuujinkou replied.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Osaka's Psychic replied shocked.

"Why the reaction? We're talking through the internet so I can't get the same results from overreacting" Shuujinkou posted and she decided to switch tabs for a second as she got a notification, much to her surprise it was a post by Alice Margatroid a renowned Stage Magician and Actress. She would apparently have a show in Sumaru City's Amphitheatre in Aoba, the show would happen the next day.

"So, you know of Gensokyo?" Osaka's Psychic asked.

"No, what's that?" Shuujinkou replied.

"No, it's not that important. I knew of a girl who shared that surname, she disappeared a few months back" Osaka's Psychic posted and logged off.

Noticing that their conversation had taken a bit too much of her time, Shuujinkou decides to begin studying and experimenting with her newfound power. By the time 19:00 rolled around, she had eaten dinner and after a few more experiments with her powers, she passed out on her bed from the day's exhaustion. Once her parents arrived, they noticed the damaged uniform. Reiji sighed, knowing what had happened. Serafina began contacting acquaintances to solve Shuujinkou's problem. The two were discussing the situation for an hour.

* * *

"She already fended off a few without our help. I'm sure she'll be fine!" Serafina spoke relaxed as she left towards the bathroom to take a shower.

"Heh, maybe she's growing faster than I thought she would." Reiji smiled, tired from the day.

As she dreamed, Shuujinkou found herself in a strange room. It resembled the insides of a Shinto Shrine, but all the walls were colored Velvet and the floor was covered in a rug of the same color. She dubbed the place Velvet Room, it seemed fitting if a bit boring. Before her appeared an old man with irritated looking eyes, long ears and wearing a black suit. But those weren't his most notable features, the single most notable feature in this man was his very, very, _very_ long nose.

"Welcome, to The Velvet Room." The man spoke in an enigmatic and unsettling tone.

"…" Shuujinkou remained silent, she was rather confused at what was happening.

"This room lies between Dream and Reality, Mind and Matter. You must be Hakurei, an unusual guest to say the least." The man with a long nose continued speaking.

"Allow me to introduce mysef, I am Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The man calling himself Igor smiled from ear to ear. Shuujinkou was rather disturbed.

"Are you another Youkai after me?" Shuujinkou asked coldly.

"On the contrary, I am here to aid you, my guest. You may not be able to use most services of this Velvet Room, however knowledge of your powers can be of use to your cause." Igor replied, his tone not changing.

"How did you enter my room?" Shuujinkou asked, still wary of Igor.

"You came to us, your body is asleep in your room, this is something similar to what is referred to as a Prophetic Dream seen in most legends." Igor answered the question, overjoyed with Shuujinkou's curiosity.

"The powers you mentioned, are they related to Hakurei-Kami?" Shuujinkou sat down on a chair that appeared after asking.

"Quite observant, indeed the being you called upon is your Persona." Igor took a seat as well, he materialized a kotatsu covered in velvet colored sheets and placed his hand on it, under his hand, a deck of blue Tarot Cards appeared as he spread the card on top of the kotatsu.

"Persona? As in a mask? Or as in individual?" Shuujinkou tilted her head in confusion.

"Your Persona is indeed a mask that you call upon when your psyche is exposed to external stimuli. Indeed you are correct. How delightful." Igor's smile gleamed with honest happiness.

Igor proceeds to flip one of the three cards that were spread out in a triangular fashion. The first was IX The Hermit.

"The Hermit, holder of knowledge, introspective and patient. However they can also be rather antisocial, very befitting of yourself, would you not agree?" Igor moved his hand to the next card as he spoke.

"So this first card represents me?" Shuujinkou was rather shocked thar Igor saw through her cold façade and revealed her insecure side, she felt vulnerable, weak, fragile, like glass.

"Ah, XIII, Death. You are now in a crossroads, you can chose to let your old self die and grow as a human or remain the same to refine what is good about you." Shuujinkou, once again, was showing emotion, her surprise was very apparent, her eyes widened.

"Change, seems quite intimidating." Shuujinkou spoke depressed as she looked downward.

"And last but not least, oh my, this is quite the interesting development. XXI The World, you seem to have run into one of our previous guests, how delightful." Igor's voice showed how overjoyed he was, to him, the day two of his guests would intertwine fates is one that only comes once every few centuries.

"Another guest? Who?" Shuujinkou asked. Her voice showed a great deal of shock.

"That is not something I am allowed to say, the privacy of the room's guests is quite important. For now I bid you farewell." As soon as Igor said his goodbyes, Shuujinkou's sight became fuzzy until she lost all consciousness.

* * *

The next day, school was very quiet. The stench of blood still lingered in some areas, Shuujinkou wandered the building after classes were over until she ran into Sanae.

"Hi Shuu-chan! Nice to see you up and walking today!" Sanae forced a big smile even if she was still rather disturbed by what happened the day before.

"Greetings." Shuujinkou replied in her usual cold, almost robotic tone. She averted her eyes from Sanae, she was still rather shocked herself.

"Are you free after now? I wanna show you something." Sanae put her hands on Shuujinkou's shoulders as she spoke.

"…" Shuujinkou showed Sanae her phone showing the ad for Alice's show that day.

"Oh, you knows what's funny?" Sanae asked while giving herself a small knock on the forehead and sticking her tounge out like an idiot.

"The fact that you seem convinced that this is anime? It's quite silly indeed." Shuujinkou deadpanned.

"Not that! The fact that I was gonna invite you to go watch Alice's show with me! Geez!" Sanae puffed up her cheeks as she complained, her cartoony expression just made Shuujinkou sigh, rather annoyed.

"Why are we even here?" Shuujinkou asked drily.

"I can ask you two the same thing! Why the fuck are two girls almost all alone in school? You two have a romance blooming or somethin'?" A very annoying voice spoke from behind the two.

"I thought you got eaten alive." Shuujinkou didn't even turn around to face Marisa, whom had walked towards the two, she just stood there, staring at space.

"So now you start talking more? Is the world gonna end soon?" Marisa smiled mischievously, Sanae began laughing.

"…" Shuujinkou decided not to reply, however she turned around to look at Marisa with her cold stare.

"Jeez, I was gonna say that you sounded cute while talking, might as well not even bother!" Marisa frowned, crossed her arms and turned her head right. A childish expression.

"…." Shuujinkou just stared at Marisa, as if she was hypnotized by the redhead's face. Sanae just laughed at the pair of oni.

"And what's so funny eh!? Tell me what's the joke!? Maybe I'll find it funny!" Marisa snapped angrily at Sanae.

"…" Shuujinkou, just kept on staring at Marisa.

"S-sorry! I just find it funny, pffffff hahahahahahaahaha!" Sanae tried to speak amidst her laughter, only to start laughing even louder, she could barely breathe, expressed with her constantly gasping for air in the middle of her laughing. Marisa was bewildered by this reaction.

"What!? What _is_ the joke!? What is it!?" Marisa shouted angrily, she had turned to face the girls once more.

"…" Shuujinkou just stared into Marisa's face, she seemed bored, yet she couldn't avert her eyes from the girl, she felt almost hypnotized to do so.

"Stop staring at me like that! I feel like I'm gonna get assaulted!" Marisa stepped backwards, she felt somewhat intimidated by Shuujinkou's doll-like stare.

"Phew! Now _that_ was a good laugh! I just felt nostalgic about your attitude. Who were you again?" Sanae exhaled satisfied, she felt that maybe her life was going upwards from here. Afterwards, she asked innocently for Marisa's name, Marisa facepalmed at such a display of incompetency.

"Marisa Kirisame, next Prime Minister, Total Genius and Hottest Girl in Sevens." Shuujinkou answered by parroting what Marisa had boasted the day the two met.

"Holy shit is your brain a steel trap or something!?" Marisa's eyes widened upon hearing Shuujinkou almost perfectly imitate her voice.

"No. My brain is a mass of muscles that sends electrical charges to the rest of the body for it to function. If it was indeed a steel trap then I would not be alive." Shuujinkou replied in a fast yet robotic tone.

"I dunno, the way you talk at act make you seem more like a machine than a human." Marisa shrugged while smiling mischievously, she was trying to regain her cool.

"You're so cool Shuu-chan! You can remember almost anything that you hear! Take it as a compliment!" Sanae's eyes gleamed with excitement, she thought it would be cool to be friends with a robot girl.

"Enough, we leave for the show. Any other doubts about my humanity are raised, I shall prove otherwise." Shuujinkou didn't enjoy being called a machine at all, her usual expression didn't change however, Sanae didn't notice how furious her underclasswoman was. Marisa decided not to bring it up again, Shuujinkou seemed too scary to mess with.

* * *

As the three headed to Aoba Amphitheatre, Shuujinkou remained completely silent, Sanae however seemed bothered that no one at Sevens even acknowledged the attack the day before, almost as if they had gotten brainwashed into forgeting. Marisa would sometimes stare at Shuujinkou who would stare back causing Marisa to avert her eyes nervously, there was something wrong with Shuujinkou, that girl must have gone through some heavy trauma to act the way she does. The three arrived at the Amphitheatre with some time to spare, the crowd hadn't begun to form just yet.

"Never knew you were into Miss Margatroid's work Shuu-chan, how long have you known of her?" Sanae asked Shuujinkou while smiling innocently.

"Ten years..." Shuujinkou replied emptily, she creeped out most peple around her.

"Whoah! I just recently started to follow her! You didn't seem the type to like Alice." Sanae giggled after speaking.

"..." Shuujinkou didn't reply, she kept staring at her upperclasswoman.

"It's technically my first time even attending, hey wait a minute, you two dragged me into this!" Marisa complained while glaring at Sanae.

"You did seem rather interesred in coming along, so I decided to bring you with us! My bad!" Sanae knocked on her forehead like an idiot, Shuujinkou just stared while Marisa was visibly embarrassed, Sanae saw right through her like a magnifying glass.

"I-it's not like that! I was planning to sell it for some extra cash that's all!" Marisa spoke while blushing only to cover her mouth with her hand.

"Good thing you didn't, I woulda made youse suffer pain." Shuujinkou's accent slipped out, "being from another part of Japan is really inconvenient" was the first thing she thought.

"Pfff! HAHAHAHA! A Kansai accent!? You're a dumb Osakan! Idiot from Osaka indeed!" Marisa began laughing at Shuujinkou's accent, only to get a punch to her left cheek.

"Silence." Shuujinkou spoke with sheer rage in her voice, it was the most emotion she had shown in all her time in Sumaru. Her cold stare hadn't changed, but it was quite obvious that she was furious.

"Mari-chan! Shuu-chan is very sensitive about that topic! You have to apologize to her!" Sanae scolded Marisa, her tone was like an older sister lecturing her younger siblings.

"Tch! Fine…" Marisa grumbled annoyed.

"I wasn't expecting a degenerate like her to ask for forgiveness, I never wanted it anyway." Shuujinkou turned to the stage, she refused to even look at Marisa. Her arms were crossed, the idea of using her Persona to send Marisa flying out of the theatre was very tempting to her at that point.

"Wha-!? You goddamn bitch! I was gonna apologize for the remark and you just go out of your way to insult me and ignore my apology!? If I could rip your arms and legs off I would totally do it!" Marisa ranted angrily, she clenched her fists, trying to hold back the urge to beat Shuujinkou senseless.

"Try me." Shuujinkou replied without even looking at Marisa, the two were about to start a fight, both waiting for the other to make the wrong move.

"Stop it you two! Mari-chan tried to apologize Shuu-chan! She admits to have wronged you already, why stay angry?" Sanae stepped between the two, she was clearly disappointed on the two younger girls.

"Tch, fine…" Marisa began to calm down, she wasn't too fond of Shuujinkou's attitude.

Shuujinkou remained silent, her head hung low and her arms drooped to her side, it was her way of showing how ashamed of her actions she was. How honest her gesture was is a mystery to everyone outside of the girl's head. Before things could get even more awkward, a man in a three piece suit stepped into the stage, aside from his clothes, nothing about him stood out, Shuujinkou couldn't even make out his eyes.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I am proud to present you, the most recent work by Miss Alice Margatroid! Dubbed: "The Phantom Star"!" The announcer spoke through his microphone to reach the full audience.

The man stepped out of the stage as the room went dark, a projection of a large monster had appeared, it had many heads that resembled two girls, one with long hair and another with shorter hair identical to Marisa's. Shuujinkou was amazed by the spectacle, her blank expression had her mouth slightly open in awe. Sanae was amazed with a glitter in her eyes that screamt "This is _so_ AWESOME!" and her mouth gaping open like a thirsty dog who had not seen water in a day. Marisa however wasn't just impressed, she was terrified, the beast seemed _too_ familiar for her. The most disturbing part of this monster was the fact that some of it's faces were almost exact copies of her own and that the other faces looked familiar as well. She was frozen in place.

"In ages forgotten by man

A monster had descended

Amatsu-Mikaboshi

It came to destroy us all

Evil incarnate, terror

The Cursed Star, The Devil" A woman's voice echoed through the room in a rather unusual Japanese, almost too perfect. Shuujinkou could identify the voice as none other than Alice Margatroid herself, an enigmatic woman shrouded in mystery, it was said that almost none have seen her face, only her shadow.

"However, Humans were saved

The Hope, The Free, The Power

They were the first to arrive

The Faith, The Loyal, The Great,

Following in hot pursuit,

And at last, The Boundary." As Alice spoke, shadows appeared.

* * *

The Hope was a girl with a large ribbon, her dress had detached sleeves, Shuujinkou felt some nostalgia to see her. The Free was a girl with a long frilly dress and a large hat, once again, Shuujinkou felt strange nostalgia, but this time, her blood was boiling, as if she wanted to fight the woman herself. Marisa went from horrified to almost comforted, The Free looked almost like her deceased mother. The Power was the only male among the shadows, he wore a suit and had a Fedora tipped in a way that one could barely see his heterochromic eyes, left red, right blue. Aside from the eyes, The Power felt the most normal looking of them all. The faith was a young girl with wavy hair and her dress resembled that of The Hope's, Sanae thought she was a sister of one of the characters due to her younger appearance. The Loyal was a woman with short hair that resembles Yoko's, this one held a katana and had some sort of entity floating around her. Marisa was bewildered by this one's appearance, the floating "thing" looked like a booger. The Great was a woman with a similar frame to The Hope her dress had attached sleeves instead and held a glowing sword, one closer to the ancient swords from the Heian era, "probably a rival sister character" Shuujinkou thought. Marisa growled like an animal, she began loosing herself is inhuman thoughts, she was scared, horrified and most importantly, furious. At last The Boundary appeared, she was a woman with long hair that reached her feet, she wore a hat that seemed comedic to Shuujinkou and Marisa, not that they'd admit it to the other each thought. The Boundary was too familiar for Shuujinkou, she looked exactly like how the woman Yukari appeared in her dream. Sanae was awestruck at the great show. The group of shadows fought the monster with cards, needles, magic, sword slashes and the very odd dance-like style that The Power employed.

"As the battle raged on,

The Devil lost it's strength,

The Great was swallowed,

No bones were left, nothing.

The Loyal vowed vengeance,

For her ally to just rest,

Amatsu-Mikaboshi,

She had to be destroyed.

She had failed, fallen, dead." Alice's voice became somber. Two of the shadows had disappeared. The Great was indeed eaten alive by the monster and The Loyal had been crushed under Amatsu-Mikaboshi's legs. Things looked grim even amidst the close victory.

"Amatsu-Mikaboshi,

She was felled, her life, over." As Alice's voice became far cheerier, the monster was defeated, it lost it's form. What it became was disturbing however; the monster had become a perfect copy of Marisa.

"After the war, Hope disappeared.

Freedom became an illusion.

Only Faith remained relevant.

Under the guise of Hope it stayed.

No Boundaries went uncrossed.

After the war, more war began." Alice's voice darkened once more as everything went black. The audience applauded satisfied at the show. Shuujinkou remained quiet, observing her classmate, growling and glaring like an animal.

* * *

As the audience left, Shuujinkou noticed a woman with blonde hair with a part of it tied in a braid staring at her with unsettling yellow eyes. She wore a big Black pointed hat, she looked like a younger, blonde, less endowed Konoe Mercury in Shuujinkou's eyes, her dress resembled a western witch outfit and her brown boots made her short stature almost unnoticed. Marisa glared at this woman and lunged at her.

"Whoah! Keep the violent greetings for later Maki!" The woman easily sidestepped to avoid Marisa's lunge, calling her Maki for some reason.

"Mari-chan! What's wrong!?" Sanae tried to reach out to Marisa. Only to get thrown away like if she was nothing.

"Oi! If you desire to live abandon the place now!" The woman pointed towards an exit. Shuujinkou noticed her rather ancient Japanese.

"…" Shuujinkou nodded and began dasing towards the exit.

As she escaped, Shuujinkou was pinned down by Marisa, upon paying attention, Shuujinkou noticed that Marisa's body had distorted beyond human capacity. Her eyes were blood red, her teeth and nails had become longer and sharper and her usual mischievous expression that annoyed her to no end had become the feral grin of a predator. Not seeing any other way out, Shuujinkou summons Hakurei-Kami and has it grab Marisa and throws her towards the ceiling.

"Wha-!? How the hell do you possess that!?" The woman flinched at the sight of Shuujinkou's Persona.

"Mishaguji! Serpent's Binding Fang!" Sanae summoned the snake woman and posed once again trying to reference an anime.

A pair of snakes had coiled around Marisa and immobilized her, no matter how much she struggled. The woman was bewildered, how could two seemingly random teenaged girls summon gods even "she" couldn't. Nothing made sense to her anymore. Shuujinkou kept whacking Marisa with Hakurei-Kami's stick eventually sending her flying to a wall.

" _Damage: Critical. To proceed Hakurei Extermination Mission will lead to fatal consequences. In Present State: Beginning Strategic Retreat..."_ Marisa spoke in an even more robotic tone than Shuujinkou's and leaped into the ceiling, made a hole in it and escaped.

"Wait! Maki!" The woman tried reaching out to the fleeing girl. To no avail, she couldn't bind Marisa's movement, she'd need magic to do that.

Shuujinkou stared at the woman while Sanae approached her. Shuujinkou eventually walked towards the woman as well.

"Who are you? Why do you know Kirisame-san?" Shuujinkou asked in her usual robotic voice.

"Me? _I'm_ Marisa Kirisame." The woman introduced herself in a casual tone, her name causing Shuujinkou's and Sanae's eyes to widen.

* * *

-To Be Continued-

NEXT ARC:

"You're Hakurei?"

"You're not worthy of being the next Shrine Maiden."

"Satanic Heaven Crumbling Wing!"

"Scarlet Onslaught!"

"Call me Mu"

"Persona!"

Note from the Author: FINALLY! After so many months of absence, I've finally updated this! Excuse my lateness, I had finished this by March but decided to fix it even more(let's say it's less terrible now). Poor Rumia, doesn't even get a decent fight because of elements and being in her EX/Adult Form just means a cosmetic change because the power boost was so minimal that she was only triple of her usual strength, but since Rumia is very weak she just became only slightly weaker than Hina. Also, being weak to light is bad when you're hunting a Hakurei and only having darkness spells sucks when you fight a Mishaguji(Curse Gods that look like a penis). So yeah, in regards to why are there two Marisa Kirisame, it's part of the backstory. Also, to exlain why did the narration became more self aware: The Narrator has character development and goes from a simple informer to a more defined character. What awaits Shuujinkou and Sanae now? Why did Marisa react the way she did? Who is Alice Margatroid? What is Amatsu-Mikaboshi? And who is the woman calling herself Marisa Kirisame!? Find out next time! On Megami Ibunroku: Hakurei who Opposed Gensokyo!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Somewhat Peaceful Days**

Yasaka couldn't believe it. The woman before her bore the same name as the underclasswoman that had just attacked her. Her first question however was: "Why is she cosplaying as a witch?" the cosplay looked amazing though so she paid no mind. Shuujinkou regained her composure in less than a second to this revelation, but something bothered her about this woman. She could see her Persona.

"So, you girls know Maki? How? I was sure He disposed of her, then again, it's not the first time he claims one thing and does the other." The woman calling herself Marisa rambled as she played around with a small bottle containing a strange liquid, the students could only imagine what this liquid was.

"She's Shuu-chan's classmate! We came together to this show!" Yasaka pointed at Shuujinkou as she spoke in a cheerful and friendly tone. Marisa exhaled tired from the girl's energy.

"Oi! It ain't polite to not introduce yerself t' yer elder!" Marisa smiled mischievously, the two girls shared more than just names and Shuujinkou was already annoyed.

"Right! Sorry! I'm Sanae Yasaka, Second Year Student at Seven Sisters Highschool!" Sanae introduced herself cheerfully. Shuujinkou just stared.

"And you? You look somewhat familiar." Marisa turned her sight to Shuujinkou whom had been staring at her for quite some time.

"Shuujinkou Hakurei, First Year Student. Yasaka-senpai is on the same school as myself." Shuujinkou spoke robotically without moving anything other than her mouth. Her monotone voice was rather creepy and Marisa swore that this girl wasn't human, nor a Hakurei.

"Yer' a Hakurei? I mean ya' look like one, but yer' behavior is bizarre." Marisa used the same "You're serious?" expression that Shuujinkou's classmate used as she compared Shuujinkou to someone else. Once again, her rather outdated Osakan Japanese made it somewhat hard for the students to understand her.

"Question Mari-san: How do you know Mari-chan? And why call her Maki?" Sanae tilted her head while asking, she began to stretch while awaiting the older Marisa's response.

"I was gonna say that my tale would be difficult to swallow, but then I remembered that ye' two can summon gods. How'd ya' do it?" Marisa dodged the question with another. She began playing around with her hat while she spoke in her casual but dated dialect.

"Huh? Oh you mean Deathbringer? I don't really know actually." Sanae giggled sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head.

"Persona, the power to call one's other self from the soul. Gods, Demons and the like are all Persona we can summon. Only users can see them, you have one too yes?" Shuujinkou spoke up from behind the two, her robotic voice never stopped making Marisa uneasy.

"Well it's not important, I can't use one so I guess yer' wrong. or I just don't know how to use mine." Marisa shrugged as she spoke. Shuujinkou kept staring at her for a long time, tension was quite high.

"So, lemme guess: You hail from this "Gensokyo" place and want me to become the next Hakurei Birthing Bitch to birth a Shrine Maiden to keep the place going?" Shuujinkou parroted annoyed, robotically, but annoyed. Marisa flinched, not knowing how to react to the accusations Shuujinkou just made. It wasn't just a case of not knowing what the girl would do, it was the fact that this girl said something disturbing even to her.

"Shuu-chan! How can you accuse her like that!?" Sanae scolded Shuujinkou. She looked like a disappointed mother talking to her child.

"Please forgive Shuu-chan, she's not the best with people." Sanae bowed while apologizing to Marisa, who began laughing amused at the event.

"…?" Shuujinkou tilted her head in confusion to Marisa's reaction.

"It's just kinda funny to me. "Not the best with people", yep that sounds just like Reimu." Marisa pulled her hat downwards to hide her sad yet nostalgic face as she spoke in a darker tone. Shuujinkou immediately left, she was irritated at the situation.

"Wait! Shuu-chan!" Sanae called Shuujinkou to get her attention but got ignored by her underclasswoman.

"No need to force it. I know it's hard to be thrown into a world of responsibilities, I was rather cold when my reality came crumbling down right on my face. But enough of my ranting, I'll go check on her, it's my fault the girl's in her current position." Marisa left through another exit as she spoke with her old Osakan accent, she was somewhat amused at her own life. Sanae picked up Maki's bag and chased after Shuujinkou to try helping her.

Outside the Amphitheatre, Shuujinkou was fiddling with her phone, looking at her very small list of contacts: Mother, Father, Emergency and a local fast food restaurant she enjoyed. Her wallpaper was that of a woman wearing a very underdone armour, white hair, heterochromic eyes and she held a scythe, Shuujinkou hid her love for anime from many, bullying was very normal during her childhood, her genetic material did her no favours. She noticed Sanae running towards her and decided to hide her phone in her bag, she'd rather not worry her upperclasswoman. Once Sanae got close, she came to a halt and began to pant, this girl didn't even hide the fact that she was bad at taking care of herself.

"Shuu-chan! Why did you run like that?" Yasaka caught her breath and began speaking rather worried.

"Personal issue." Shuujinkou answered monotonously, her gaze fixated on Yasaka's face.

"I can listen to you, you know? How about tomorrow after school?" Sanae pressed on, she wouldn't stop until Shuujinkou budged. The younger girl rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"…" Shuujinkou remained fully silent, Sanae wondered if she even breathed.

"I'll take it as a yes then! OK! Tomorrow at Lotus!" Sanae fist pumped the air victoriously, Shuujinkou felt exhausted from both fighting and dealing with her for the day and left without saying a word.

After returning home, Shuujinkou ran into her parents. An unusual sight, she had gotten so accustomed to returning home and only seeing her parents in weekends and mornings that her eyes had widened and her mouth was gaping open. Her parents were still in their work uniforms and looked at her warmly, did they know of what has been happening? Shuujinkou stared at them, she had no idea on how to react to the situation. Her father just smiled at her to comfort her like he did when she was still in elementary.

"Won't you say that you're back? I'm quite sure we raised you to do so young lady!" Serafina faked unhappiness to tease Shuujinkou, her daughter of course immediately bowed to apologize.

"I'm…back…" Shuujinkou spoke embarrassed, she had never been so ridiculed in so long. Her mother smiled, she was teasing Shuujinkou and the girl couldn't understand much to her dismay.

"Don't tease her like that Sera, Shuujinkou is still recovering and she's probably very tired from today's adventure." Shuujinkou flinched at her father's words. She was as clear as glass to him, her thoughts were like words on a book that is her skin.

"She has to grow up eventually." Serafina spoke teasingly. Shuujinkou went to take a bath to clear her mind and clean herself, luckily her uniform wasn't as torn up as the one from the day before.

The water hit her face and flowed to the rest of her skin, it's high temperature soothed Shuujinkou. Flowing from her hair was a stream of black water, revealing Shuujinkou's blonde hair. She preferred to keep it a secret from others, it was so alien to so many, she can thank her blonde hair, her blue eyes and her paler skin for her current state of mind, she has her grandmother to thank for opening her eyes to just how disgusting and corrupt the world truly is and she has her father to thank for forbidding her a normal life. After finishing her bath and dressing once again in her pajama-like clothes, Shuujinkou noticed that her hair spray was gone, only her brown contact lenses would hide her true appearance. She wandered into the kitchen while hiding from any and all windows and found her parents finishing cooking dinner.

"How was your bath honey?" Serafina asked the clearly annoyed Shuujinkou with a mischievous voice.

"Where's the dye?" Shuujinkou replied the question with another rather annoyed, although much less than when she had arrived.

"We did teach you to never respond a question with another, did we not?" Serafina replied teasingly. Shuujinkou was aggravated by the display of hypocrisy her mother was showing and narrowed her eyes.

"Where's the dye?" Shuujinkou asked once more, now with more anger in her voice.

"We did teach you to never respond a question with another, did we not?" Serafina repeated her statement in the same tone to further upset her daughter.

"Where's the dye?" Shuujinkou asked again, now with more anger in her voice.

"We did teach you to never respond a question with another, did we not?" Serafina repeated her statement in the same tone to further upset her daughter.

"Where's the dye?" Shuujinkou asked once again, now with more anger in her voice.

"We did teach you to never respond a question with another, did we not?" Serafina repeated her statement in the same tone to further upset her daughter.

"Where's the dye?" Shuujinkou asked once more, now with even more anger in her voice.

"We did teach you to never respond a question with another, did we not?" Serafina repeated her statement in the same tone to further upset her daughter.

"Where's the dye?" Shuujinkou asked one last time, her voice showing absolute rage, at least as much rage as Shuujinkou could emote.

"We did teach you to never respond a question with another, did we not?" Serafina repeated her statement in the same tone to further upset her daughter.

"I asked: Where. Is. The. Dye!? You shitty piece of shit!" Shuujinkou lashed out at her mother, her pauses between words were caused by her trying to not punch her mother.

"Aha! I see progress! To reward you: I'll tell you where your dye is." Serafina smiled brightly, but Shuujinkou knew that there was something wrong with it.

"Just tell me..." Shuujinkou returned to her usual robotic tone.

"I'll tell you, after we eat dinner and you tell me if you enjoyed your bath." Serafina's usually graceful face had moments of mischievous smiles and smirks, but this was a borderline trollface, her face distorted in ways Shuujinkou had never seen her mother do in her entire life, more than angry, Shuujinkou was unnerved at her mother's face.

"Also take off the contacts, you don't need them here." Reiji added while holding back laughter, Shuujinkou had never shown as much emotion as now since she was eight years old, all he needed was a genuine smile and to see his daughter live happily with her appearance to feel accomplished in life.

"…" Shuujinkou glared at her own father and punched a wall behind her before taking off her contact lenses and sitting down to eat.

"Now then, how did your day go?" Serafina began interrogating Shuujinkou. Much to her daughter's dismay, Serafina asked a question she'd rather not answer.

"Fine, I guess..." Shuujinkou gave a vague answer in a slightly more nervous way of speaking with her usual robotic voice.

"Details, for a day to be "Fine, I guess" things must have happened. Did you meet a boy who stole your heart? Did you go to a concert at Aoba? Did you almost get kidnapped?" Serafina mocked her daughter's voice and proceeded to begin her investigation. The first question made Reiji become as pale as the two females eating with him. The second and third made Shuujinkou avert her eyes from her mother's face.

"N-nonsense! Shuujinkou wouldn't hide meeting a boy from us! R-right?" Reiji blurted out nervously. Serafina began giggling at how good at breaking her family she has become.

"I met a boy named Ren Amamiya from Kissassyourgaymama High, I do not comprehend what you mean by "Stole your heart"." Shuujinkou mispronounced Kasugayama and started to eat her dinner. Reiji had become paler than his own child.

"I meant that if he was the kind of man you'd love to live the rest of your life with." Serafina explained and also began eating. Reiji got even paler from the phrasing Serafina used.

"No..." Shuujinkou replied emptily calming Reiji down.

"So, you went to Alice Margatroid's show yes? I heard that it was her best show yet." Serafina kept questioning Shuujinkou who averted her eyes from her mother.

"It was good even for Ms. Margatroid's standards." Shuujinkou spoke while averting her eyes, she began eating once again to distract herself.

"You seem down, did you get attacked by a demon?" Serafina didn't bother with trifling things such as subtlety, she went straight to the point and her serious tone showed it.

"How did-?" Shuujinkou's eyes widened only to get interrupted by her mother.

"Ah ah ah. Remember what we told you~" Serafina caught Shuujinkou mid-sentence in a teasing tone.

"Yes. At school, students got eaten alive and today, nothing. It wasn't a dream." Shuujinkou answered annoyed, the events at Sevens had done little to faze the girl.

Before Shuujinkou could finish rambling and muttering, the intercom had buzzed. Reiji left to the door to check who had interrupted the conversation. Upon opening the door, Reiji saw a woman in a black witch outfit, she looked like a cosplayer to him. Her blonde hair was tied in a braid to her side and had a large witch hat on her head. This woman was Marisa Kirisame, the same woman who had seen Hakurei-Kami without being a Persona-User herself.

"I saw Shuujinkou Hakurei from Seven Sisters Highschool's Class 1-2 enter this apartment, guessing from your aura and resemblance you're the father and the mother is a foreign woman." Marisa smirked as she spoke, she knew all about Shuujinkou, it was too easy.

"I presume you're here to "invite" her?" Reiji replied while his guard was up, this woman knew too much and gave a threatening aura.

"I just wanna talk to her, her aunt and I are pretty close." Marisa kept her eyes hidden under her hat, her slightly less cheery tone showed that, she too was rather down about the event.

"So then, you knew my sister? Tell me, what brings you here then?" Reiji lightened up in both voice and expression.

"I came to talk. Shuujin said something that's been botherin' me." Marisa didn't even look at Reiji as she spoke in her old Osakan Japanese.

Shuujinkou managed to explain her situation to her mother and wandered to the stairs near the door. Marisa saw her and didn't even recognize her, save for the mannerisms and the same cold, broken and empty aura Shuujinkou radiated.

"Shuujin?" Marisa asked confused about what she was looking at. This girl wasn't blonde a few hours ago! How did she dye it without reeking of hair dye?

"…!?" Shuujinkou turned around, her usual cold stare was exchanged for a shocked face for a second only to switch to an angrier glare. Marisa was naturally intimidated.

"I... I didn't know that you were. Well, you're aware of what I mean." Marisa reversed into archaic Japanese thanks to her nervousness.

"Shunning, do you know this woman?" Reiji looked at Shuujinkou confused.

"This... is Marisa Kirisame. The real one." Shuujinkou ran up the stairs towards her room, she hated how she looked.

"Yeah, um. I'm an exchange student from Osaka and the school thought it was funny to pair me up with her. So can I live with you guys until I make enough zen to live in my own?" Marisa made up a flimsy story. Reiji stared at the witch, amazed that such a terrible liar existed.

"Zen? You mean Yen. Zen was from before the Taisho era. Sure Kirisame-kun, we'll keep you as our captive since you've been stalking my daughter and have probably tried to kidnap her." Reiji immediately restrained Marisa in a lock, he had teleported from Marisa's point of view.

As Shuujinkou made her way to her room a voice ringed in her head, one she dreaded to hear.

"What a weirdo! You sure yer' Japanese!? You ain't foolin' anyone Blondie!" An immature little boy's voice rang in Shuujinkou's head, at the same time, a sharp pain from strands of Shuujinkou's hair made her kneel over while holding her head. She then gave the floor a loud, hard punch and regained her composure. She'd rather get killed over having anyone see her so vulnerable.

As she headed into her room, Shuujinkou notices the note on the door. Her mother had moved all her hair dye spray into the room to make the bathroom less messy. Shuujinkou of course, gritted her teeth, curled her hands into fists and punched the wall, again making a loud noise. She then proceeded to enter her room and slammed the door like an immature little girl throwing a tantrum, except what fueled her actions wasn't just anger, it was panic, stress, anxiety. Her life was being turned upside down once again and she was very displeased with this.

Back in the dining room, Reiji had tied Marisa to a chair as a means of keeping her in check. Serafina took the time to take away all of the strange bottles, darts, grenades and other handmade explosives from Marisa, whom had to be stripped into nothing but her white bloomers and a yellow camisole. The blonde girl was quite shorter without her oversized boots, hat and excessive amounts of clothes. Marisa was slightly taller than a grade school girl, she is probably sensitive about this.

"So, what's yer plan for me?" Marisa spoke relaxed, she wasn't the type of girl to panic in such a situation. She was quite aware of how unwilling to harm her the two older adults questioning her were.

"Just answer our questions and we'll let you go." Serafina's tone of voice had drastically changed to a much colder one, akin to her daughter.

"First, what do you want from our daughter?" Reiji asked, never once averting his eyes from the girl before him.

"Just kinda hang around her I guess? I ended up here tryin' to stop some asshole." Marisa shrugged as she replied awkwardly.

"You must've had an ulterior motive, explain yourself." Serafina pressed Marisa to answer.

"Guess I kinda forgot most of my magic is sealed in the outside. I was gonna say I would 'elp 'er do what she wanted, then I noticed I can't even fly here and that most I could do was make clothes or other inanimate objects appear." Marisa sighed in disappointment at how much weaker she was in the real world.

"If she was indeed lying I would've seen through it already, especially since she's such a bad liar. We have a spare room next to Shuujinkou's, you can stay until you get enough money to live on your own. If we catch you doing something shady to our daughter. Well, pray to Aradia or whatever god or goddess witches pray to since either she'll beat the life out of you, or we will." Serafina ended the interrogation menacingly. Marisa gulped as her binds were undone.

"With all that out of the way! Welcome to the current Hakurei Household!" Reiji spoke in a much friendlier voice, which just creeped out Marisa even more.

"Uhhh, thanks?" Marisa sweatdropped nervously and confused, the only other members of the family she knew were Shuujinkou and Reimu, both whom while sharing some physical qualities were still quite different, Shuujinkou was more endowed than Reimu was for sure and she was a good bit scarier, Reimu had her moments, but Shuujinkou was just hostile to everything around her, why did the other Sanae stick near her was beyond her understanding aside from Stockholm Syndrome and sheer stupidity, both being quite possible since both Sanae are equally intelligent.

"I'll escort you to your room, you must be tired from what you've gone through today." Reiji guided Marisa to the higher floor of the apartment they lived in, there were three rooms, one had a normal unchanged door with nothing to note about it, the leftmost one had a strange talisman that was alien to Marisa, the writing on it was slightly more modern than Marisa was used to and she wasn't able to read it. And lastly, the rightmost room, possibly Shuujinkou's room due to how beat up the door was and how damaged the walls around it were. Marisa could hear something spraying from behind the door, the smell of cheap dye lingered in the air, it was definitely Shuujinkou's room.

"How long has she been like that?" Marisa asked Reiji offhandedly.

"Seven long, painful years. Even with our efforts, she's never been too social, but she's become distant to all around her." Reiji replied stoically, he didn't want Marisa to notice how agonizing it was for him to see his own daughter in her state.

"Mind if I try helping her?" Marisa offered in an unusual tone of voice, she sounded concerned.

"Go ahead, Shuujinkou needs someone else to trust." Reiji left for his room as he spoke somewhat downtrodden.

Marisa followed suit and entered her own room. The room was dark, Marisa could barely see the outline of the objects within said room. She began to feel around her surroundings and noticed a strange switch on the wall. After flipping said switch, the room became illuminated, Marisa was awestruck, her face twisted into a curious smile and began observing her new room. The bed was rather unimpressive with a rather small size and unremarkable sheets, the walls were just as boring to look at. There was a rather large desk with many strange paintings on top. Their small size hid their impressive realism, Marisa made a mental reminder to herself to ask the Hakurei family members of the house about the artist, the only other artists she could compare in terms of quality were the Tengu and Akyuu, neither being quite human, so the fact that a human managed this quality was quite amazing. These small paintings however, they were disturbing as well. In each one there was a woman wearing a traditional Shinto Priestess uniform, her hair was purple, it was adorned with a red ribbon that seems to be bigger with each subsequent painting. The last two however, were a special case of disturbing. One of them had her purple hair and iconic ribbon, but her bangs were formed by white tubes and the other was a very pale, blonde girl with blue eyes, both were smiling honestly, both had the same face. Marisa could never bring herself to mistake these girls for anyone but Reimu and Shuujinkou Hakurei respectively. How could she forget? Her best friend, nay, sister figure was right before her as a painting. Marisa's heart sank, her curious smile was shattered in favour of a pained expression, this painting will sleep alongside her, always reminding her of her failure, of her powerlessness, of her friend.

"This, this is far from comedic… I was sure… I-I!" Marisa's voice cracked, trembled, struggled to escape her throat.

"DORAGON INSTAAAAAAARU!" A man's voice roared from Shuujinkou's room.

"Huh?" Marisa snapped out of her grieving trance and noticed a hole in the wall.

Marisa peered through the hole and saw the insides of Shuujinkou's room, inside it, Shuujinkou seemed to be playing with herself, quite literally. Shuujinkou was sitting besides a clone of herself, both versions of her had the usual back hair and before them was a strange square object showing two men fighting each other, both with insane hairstyles that Kochiya would enjoy and wielding some gray "thing" on their hand. The two men had identical moves, clothes and voices, just like the girls playing. This was probably one of those videogames Kochiya mentioned, Marisa was rather impressed with they way the men moved, their unorthodox fighting styles and weapons made them seem unique and interesting, though she was sure she could beat them if they were real. After seeing Shuujinkou and her clone play with each other for some time, the two left Marisa's view and the illumination once again dropped. Bored from looking at black for a few minutes, Marisa decided to try and sleep on the bed she was given.

"Marisa Kirisame." A voice similar to Shuujinkou's called out in a regal yet empty tone.

"Shuujin?" Marisa replied as she turned around. Shuujinkou was indeed behind her, but there was something very wrong about her presence. Shuujinkou usually radiated an air of cool and collected to hide her broken aura of sheer rage her blonde appearance had, this time Shuujinkou's gaze was piercing yet not malicious, her posture was much more relaxed and proper at the same time. In some ways, she resembled her aunt quite a bit.

"I am Shuujinkou, but I am also not. I am Hakurei-Kami, it has been a few days since I last laid my gaze upon your beautiful face Kirisame-han." Hakurei-Kami spoke in "it's" gentlemanly tone, according to Reimu, she worshiped a God so Marisa would rather think of this as a "he" but Shuujinkou's appearance made the cliché flirting more unsettling than funny at this point.

"We never met, hell, Reimu never saw you." Marisa furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Forgive my unusual looks, I am bound to Shuujinkou and thus; I bear her image and not my own. I was fooled, used and betrayed, now I am but a puppet in the Sea of Souls." Hakurei-Kami bowed while apologizing, his polite and imposing manner of speech was made more intimidating by Shuujinkou's oddly deep voice. Marisa was more confused about what the fallen Deity spoke of when "it" spoke of being betrayed.

"Betrayed? What happened?" Marisa asked, she was sure that it was an important detail.

"Gensokyo was made against my will and my child's will." The Persona answered, Shuujinkou's somber voice made it obvious "it" was regretting the event.

"And you heeded Shuujin's call because you wanted revenge..." Marisa murmured.

"Once I lay my hands on her, *ahem* I must take my leave. Thou hath a day of utmost importance in a few hours." Hakurei-Kami left the room by dissolving into blue dust.

Marisa yawned after the dust completely dissipated. The day had been a long, tiresome one. From sleeping in a back alley to dealing with city people, she then gets attacked in a concert after she finds the person she looked for. Her day was an utter mess. As the exhaustion from the day took over Marisa and her mind drifted into sleep, Marisa had felt as if her bed was eating her, the comfort of a nice bed was a luxury she had lacked for at least a decade. When she came to, Marisa was standing in front of the Hakurei Shrine, she was wearing her usual witch outfit and hat and the area looked rather beat up, more so than usual.

"I give up *pant* *pant* You win *gasp*" A familiar voice spoke to Marisa while panting. Marisa turned around to see who was speaking with her.

"I-I won? Holy shit I actually beat ya'!?" Marisa's voice came out sounding like a child who was told they were getting a gift. Of course she would, she just beat Reimu Hakurei! The very girl who had beaten her many times before. Reimu was wearing an unorthodox Shrine Priestess outfit with detached sleeves from the main red dress with a white neck area and a yellow tie of sorts. Of course what stood out most about Reimu was her big, red, ribbon and her tubes make the illusion of bangs. The two girls were friendly rivals and to some extent, close friends.

"Yes. Geez, why are you in so much disbelief? I thought you'd be yelling your usual victory boasts." Reimu got back up and shrugged as she spoke her mind.

"I guess it's cause I'm actually surprised I won? Were you holding back?" Marisa scratched the back of her neck and asked Reimu confused at how her near invincible friend had lost to her.

"That's unlike you, why would I hold back on you? You're not the type of person to be so humble about things, go on, boast that you're number one. I'll find what beats you eventually!" Reimu winked at Marisa and smiled satisfied. Marisa was the real opponent she was hoping she could find. One who just wanted an honest win, no strings attached.

"Reliving your happiest moment? That's very you Marisa." Another voice spoke as the world turned black.

"You! I was enjoyin' a dream here! Be decent will ya'!" Marisa turned around slightly peeved at the Baku who ate her dream, Doremi Sweet. Doremi wore strange black polka dot pajamas and a sleeping hat covered her blue hair and possibly ears. Her usual smug expression annoyed Marisa especially now.

"Hah! Is that how you should talk to a Youkai? If I felt like it, I could kill you now. Hakurei-san would think you killed yourself." Doremi teased Marisa. She was enjoying how vulnerable the girl was in her current state.

"Tch. Whatcha want?" Marisa asked slightly less aggressively. She wasn't impulsive enough to just try and face Doremi on her own in her current state.

"Not much. Just here to remind you of your sins. Remember, they want Hakurei-san alive. I'm not bothered by what happens but I think you should take a side now, staying neutral too long will make you enemy of all sides. Good luck! I already made a bet that you live to the end, you die and I have to pay an absurd amount of cash to Hecatia." Doremi casually warned Marisa. The blonde of course gulped nervously.

"...p" A voice spoke from afar.

"Ah well. Have a nice day! I'm expecting you to live!" Doremi left as a torrent of water filled the area and Marisa was forced to swim. As the waters grew more and more violent, Marisa hopelessly struggled to remain afloat gasping for air and reaching towards Doremi.

"Doremi! Don't leave! Help me! You! You!" Marisa desperately called Doremi who just ignored her as she tried to not drown. Eventually, Marisa's body gave up and she began sinking into the deep darkness, bellow the water was a monster of horrifying form. A black creature with multiple heads all with mouths filled with teeth and all hissing, prepared to rip her body to shreds. As the creature moved closer and closer, Marisa's voice wanted to scream in horror, bit she also knew that there was no one to save her, screaming would waste her air. But she was still horrified.

"Wake up you degenerated dumbass broad!" Shuujinkou shouted angrily.

"Gyaaaaaaah! What, what happened? The water, that monster." Marisa sprung from bed confused and nervous. Shuujinkou was standing before her, wearing her black school uniform and green tie. Her hair was black again.

"Put the clothes on bitch." Shuujinkou pointed at the uniform next to the bed Marisa was sleeping in. The small woman started to regain her composure and redirected her stare at the annoyed expression Shuujinkou had.

"I'm wearing that? Why?" Marisa asked perplexed. Shuujinkou never replied and just pushed the uniform into Marisa who reluctantly ended up putting it on.

After finally putting on the uniform, Marisa walked downstairs and met with Reiji and Serafina. Breakfast was ready and they had to eat quick or Shuujinkou would miss the bus for school and Marisa would be late as well, she had to take the place of the girl who used her name for some reason. After a silent breakfast the two girls went to the bus stop Shuujinkou usually waited at, there was also another girl from the same school in there. Her wavy hair was tied up in a ponytail and her usual smile was there, no doubt this was Sanae Yasaka.

"Shuu-chan! Mari-san!" Yasaka called the two girls while waving her hands. Both knew she wouldn't stop until they acknowledged her existence.

"'Sup Yasaka." Marisa greeted Yasaka casually. Her slightly old Japanese was already adapting to a more modern one, what caused it was probably the world itself erasing traces of Gensokyo in Marisa.

"Quiet as always huh Shuu-chan? So, Mari-san, why are you wearing our school's uniform? Don't tell me you'll take Mari-chan's place!" Yasaka smiled cheerfully, was there anything that made her less happy? Neither of the other girls wanted to know.

"Sorta. Shuujin forced me to wear this. Why do you have two bags? Shuujin has one and I don't have one, what gives?" Marisa shrugged and furrowed her brow questioning the oddity.

"Well, this one is for you! Mari-chan had it, but I picked it up after she ran." Yasaka gave Marisa the spare bag. The bag had the name Marisa Kirisame written in the tag.

"The bus is here fuckheads." Shuujinkou pointed at the bus that approached the stop they stood near. Once the bus arrived, Shuujinkou paid her fee and Marisa's since the woman was unable to pay.

As they sat on the bus, a variety of people were staring at the creepy, black haired girl and her blonde companion, almost pretending Yasaka didn't exist. Marisa was too busy observing the city's landscape, to her, it was almost as advanced as the Lunar Capital, it made sense to even Shuujinkou, for this woman had come from a totally different world, quite possible she had never seen much of modern life or technology. The youngest of the three had instead decided to mess around in her phone, she was watching an anime about a man who wielded a sword almost as tall as himself surviving in a ruined world, this anime was Love for you is like a truck. And Yasaka was busy explaining modern life to Marisa. After some time, the three arrive in Sevens and eventually go to their respective classrooms. In Shuujinkou's class, students were murmuring all about Marisa's hairstyle change and about a Miss Sevens Pageant.

"So? Who did you vote for?" A male student's voice spoke to his friends.

"I went with Kirisame-chan. She's super cute and at the same time a really cool girl!" Another boy spoke.

"I dunno, Hakurei-chan is more my type. I like the mysterious, quiet type, she seems cool and reserved, though I think she's a total animal under the sheets." A third boy spoke perversely.

"Dude! Sick! You're already thinking on making a move on her!? No fair, I wanted to get together with her!" A fourth boy spoke up.

"Losers, Kirisame-chan is where it's at! She's probably very skilled and durable, I hear Hakurei-chan is a frail girl, don't break her legs while you're at it." The second boy boasted.

"Geez, they have no shame in treating girls as objects. Though I'm impressed that you managed to become so popular in just a few days Hakurei-san." Yoko spoke to Shuujinkou from the other seat.

"Think I give a single fuck?" Shuujinkou replied as she rolled her eyes.

"Now class, it's time we begin." A professor stepped into the classroom and things went just like usual, Marisa kept quiet since she was too busy sleeping in class to make any comments, Yoko took notes as usual and Shuujinkou listened to the lectures with her blank stare never changing.

"Alright kids, today we'll discuss an even that happened in the 1880s. During the Meiji Reformation, multiple books indicate a part of the Kyoto area suddenly becoming warped and people had begun vanishing in that zone. The vague date stems from how inconsistent the time the incidents began has been. No two sources have been completely the same, though a trend they dates follow is that they range from March 29th to the 1st of April. This is also around the date Youkai had been confirmed to be just fiction or humans going around exaggerating things. Hey Hakurei-kun! Stop staring absentmindedly!" The professor was a tall man with black hair that seemed that it was never brushed his eyes seemed like he was uninterested in giving class but when it came to education, Professor Masahiro Sakata was one of the most beloved teachers in Sevens. His strict voice contradicted his apathetic expression.

"..." Shuujinkou kept her usual attitude. Hard to read, yet clearly paying attention.

"If you were paying attention, how about answering this question: What is the reason I never gave a date for these incidents?" Professor Sakata asked Shuujinkou.

"Because historians never agreed on a date since it was too inconsistent." Shuujinkou replied robotically.

"At least you internalized it." Professor Sakata shrugged and decided to pull a few papers from his desk.

"You actually understood him?" Yoko whispered to Shuujinkou impressed at the transfer student's attention span.

"Just kept the start in mind." Shuujinkou shrugged bored.

"Now then! This event was eventually shrugged off as a Westerner Conspiracy. But there are a few other events in our history that seem to be related according to some scholars. In 1998, there was a company known as the Kirijo Group had separated from their ally company, the Nanjo Group, currently the most influential Corporation in Japan. This separation is said to have led into the 1999 Tatsumi Port Island Catastrophe, where the illness known as Apathy Syndrome had been first observed. In 2004 Winter had lasted until May for a mysterious reason, this is suspected to be related to Kirijo as the Kyoto Disappearances had begun once more and the patients of Apathy Syndrome had begun to be more common. In 2009, Apathy Syndrome had become an epidemic. There was a surge of patients and many areas of Tatsumi Port Island had become damaged for mysterious reasons. The Kirijo Group had become the main suspects of being behind the damage. In 2016, The Phantom Thieves of Hearts had become a widespread phenomena. Many theorize The Phantom Thieves had a relation to the increasingly bizarre disappearances, with Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns all over Tokyo and Kyoto having an unnatural event happening. Mysterious organisms were said to be recorded on screen, some say Youkai have returned to terrorize humans once more, others that it's a government conspiracy. What is certain is that every time Kyoto Disappearances begin anew, there is a mysterious group of people seen wandering the streets of our country. Kids, the incident is being reported once more, avoid any and all suspicious people around Sumaru." Professor Sakata's tale was a strange and ominous one. Even though he said all those things, class moved on without any and all change. Marisa of course, slept through the entire class.

After school, Shuujinkou, Marisa, Yoko and Yasaka met up at the gates of the school. Shuujinkou and Marisa were forced by Sanae to come with her and Yoko tagged along to avoid either of them from doing something stupid, since knowing Marisa and Shuujinkou, they're not the most normal girls around.

"Good to see you Yo-chan! You came to go shopping with us at Lotus?" Yasaka asked overjoyed that she had many people around.

"I came to avoid things from getting out of hand Senpai. Though my wardrobe has been a bit lacking since my last time buying." Yoko replied and smiled softly at her upperclasswoman.

"Maybe I can find myself some better things to wear. Do they sell hats in Lotus?" Marisa asked Yasaka with her arms crossed. She mostly sounded uninterested, despite honestly wanting her usual getup back.

"There's a lot in Lotus! Who knows? Maybe we'll find more clothes for you." Yasaka answered Marisa's query. The short girl smiled mischievously.

"What about you Hakurei-san? Any clothes in your list?" Yoko asked Shuujinkou who was staring off into the sky.

"Pants...Shirts..." Shuujinkou answered in her usual robotic tone and proceeded to keep staring into the sky.

"Righ..." Yoko sweatdropped and smiled awkwardly, she should've expected a simple answer from a girl like Shuujinkou.

"Enough pointless banter! Lotus here we go!" Marisa pointed to exit the school and led the group until they reached the streets.

Upon reaching the streets, Marisa's confidence vanished in favour of confusion with Yasaka taking the lead towards Lotus instead. The group walked southwest from Sevens towards Lotus and on their way they encounter a tall, woman wearing a red hoodie with strange Kanji on the sleeves, her short hair was hidden under the hood, only her piercing yellow eyes indicated that she was staring at the shorter girls.

"Good evenin', could ye' girls spare some change for a lady? I haven't eaten fer 2 days." The tall woman asked with her hand stretched, she had a strangely broken Kansai Accent with elements of broken Japanese spoken by American soldiers from the mysterious Thorman Case in 1993. She was clearly hungry and tired

"Not worth wasting it on you. Let's go." Shuujinkou slapped the woman's hand away and headed towards Lotus on her own, irritated by her routine being altered.

"What!? Get back here, I'll make you help!" Marisa angrily grabbed Shuujinkou's arm to prevent her from leaving.

"Here, have 5000 yen. That should be enough to buy a meal at Gatten Sushi." Yoko gave a bill to the lady. She was obviously upset at Shuujinkou's attitude, though she tried to hide it with a smile.

"Have some from me too! Things are pretty rough these days." Yasaka happily gave the lady a bill of equal value, disappointed in Shuujinkou, Yasaka decided to head towards the struggling shorter girls.

"Many thanks, what are yer names?" The lady bowed overjoyed by the kindness the two girls showed her.

"Sanae Yasaka! You look too sane to be using drugs, so I felt bad for you, I wanted to lend a hand!" Yasaka smiled as she headed to separate the shorter girls.

"Yoko Kamiyama. I did it for the same reason Yasaka-senpai helped." Yoko smiled softly, she was clearly the most levelheaded of the four.

"Let go, I'm not afraid of beating you lifeless..." Shuujinkou shook her arm trying to get Marisa to stop grabbing her, clearly annoyed at getting touched.

"You pieceof! Don't be such a bitch!" Marisa maintained her grip on Shuujinkou firmly, she had no idea on what to make the teen do after she gave up though.

"That's enough, let it be Kirisame-san." Yoko interrupted the two with her stern and serious voice.

"Shuu-chan! Why didn't you help the lady?" Yasaka asked somewhat upset.

"Why should I?" Shuujinkou replied with her own apathetic question.

"Because it's the right thing? Geez, you'd fit in Gensokyo no problem." Marisa grumbled with her arms crossed.

"Shut the fuck up!" Shuujinkou snapped at Marisa with sheer rage, she tried punching the petite adult but Yasaka was holding her back.

"Shuu-chan, that's not what you really feel, don't lash out just because of a bad choice." Yasaka tried calming Shuujinkou down. Her voice was clearly disappointed in the girl.

"Tch..." Shuujinkou bit her lip and stopped struggling.

"Let's just go and finish this, Kirisame-san, have you cooled down?" Yoko asked Marisa annoyed. The short adult had stopped struggling.

"Fine... I need some threads to walk around here. Shuujin needs some too, her shirts and shorts combo isn't the most normal way to walk around, even now." Marisa sneaked one last jab at Shuujinkou, smiling mischievously all the while.

Inside Lotus itself, the girls went straight to the clothing store known for it's fashion, Rosa Candida. Marisa and Shuujinkou found clothes they liked and went to try them on. Shuujinkou got a pair of somewhat strange black and red shoes that looked like a mix of boots and sneakers, white pants, a black undershirt and a red, long sleeved jacket. Marisa got a new pair of boots, a hat that looked like a version of her own witch hat, but with a creepy face sewn onto it and a shorter dress with pieces of it's back making two winglike capes, lucky her, the cosplay season hadn't ended for Rosa Candida. The two stepped out of their dressers and looked at the other girls as if waiting for a reaction.

"Well, it looks, cool I guess. Kirisame-san, are you into cosplay?" Yoko asked confused, to her, Marisa looked like an anime character.

"You look awesome Mari-san! And Shuu-chan looks pretty badass!" Yasaka gave a thumbs up to the two with a big smile in her face.

"Damn, you're like a clone of your aunt. Well, excluding the fact that you're wearing pants and a long sleeved jacket instead. So really you just have her face and colors." Marisa smiled mischievously while looking at Shuujinkou, the younger girl just stared at Marisa with her cold brown eyes.

"I admit, Hakurei-san looks quite cool. I honestly wish I could look cool in anything." Yoko scratched the back of her neck somewhat awkwardly, she truly did envy Shuujinkou's appearance.

"Whatever..." Shuujinkou mumbled irritated at the constant interaction that was being forced upon her.

"With that out of the way, we should go pay for what you two got." Yoko left towards the register nervously.

"That will be 1500000 yen." The Mannequin Sister spoke professionally yet sultrily.

"EEEEHH!? That's way too much!" Yoko exclaimed in shock.

"You could work here to compensate the pay. Do be warned, we do not accept mediocrity." The Mannequin Sister voiced her carefree attitude about the situation.

"See? I don't waste my cash on useless things." Shuujinkou complained with her arms crossed.

"Geez, how bothersome." Marisa murmured from behind the rest. Yasaka was of course, too busy admiring Marisa's cosplay looking clothes to voice her opinions.

"Fine, when do we start?" Yoko looked downwards defeated.

"Tomorrow, be sure to treat the clients correctly." The Mannequin Sister dismissed the girls and let them go.

The four left Lotus and began parting ways to their respective districts of Sumaru. On the way towards the bus stop, the girls meet up with the tall woman in the hoodie. The sleeves in her jacket reading "Divine Revelation Made Through Dreams" on the right and on the left "Esteemed Companion".

"Oh? Greetins' once more. I'm grateful for how much ye' girls helped me. I can see two of you got more to wear, introduce yourselves." The lady spoke in a strange but friendly voice.

"Why don't you start?" Marisa asked back mischievously.

"I'm no one in particular. So just call me Mu." The woman calling herself Mu humored Marisa confidently.

"Fine, fine. Marisa Kirisame." Marisa replied disappointed at how simple things were.

"And you hybrid? Care to tell me your name?" Mu asked Shuujinkou. The hybrid girl was shocked, not visibly, but emotionally, Shuujinkou was of all things, scared.

"…Shuujinkou….Hakurei" Shuujinkou struggled to even speak, she was scared of her secret being revealed, she already hated Marisa for knowing, but she was truly terrified now with many others around her.

"Hybrid? Is Shuu-chan some sort of Demifiend or something?" Yasaka asked innocently.

"Nah, it's not important, more importantly, you should escort her back home, she looks about to pass out at any time." Mu pointed at the slightly more noticeably disturbed Shuujinkou.

"Hey Yasaka, gimme a hand draggin' this idiot back home. See ya later Yoko." Marisa and Yasaka both began to guide Shuujinkou towards a bus stop for Kounan.

"Ye' there, Yoko-han. I have to tell you something." Mu stared at Yoko, commanding her to stay, Yoko of course became nervous of what would happen.

"Umm. What is it Mu-san?" Yoko kept some distance between herself and Mu, just in case the tall woman had something up her sleeve.

"No need to get defensive. I just want to warn you." Mu winked at Yoko, as if to try and comfort the shorter girl.

"Warn me?" Yoko furrowed her brow confused.

"If you value your life, stay away from Shuujinkou. That girl doesn't even care about you, are you that desperate to have friends?" Mu's tone became much more serious and strict. Yoko flinched at Mu's question unable to answer.

"Hakurei-san is a brave girl, I owe her my life." Yoko put up a façade of loyalty. Though to Mu, it was obvious Yoko began doubting Shuujinkou.

"That blind, deluded trust in her is gonna get you killed. The Hakurei family are the kind of people who leave you to die if it fits their agenda. Look at me." Mu mocked Yoko for her naïveté. She removed the hood in her jacket, under the jacket, was a woman who's face was a near mirror of Shuujinkou, albeit older and dirtier from her time in the streets.

"Wha!?" Yoko gasped shocked and confused, the woman who was warning her about Shuujinkou looked strikingly similar to the girl. The questions kept piling up on Yoko's head and before she could ask any, Mu had left. No trace of the homeless woman.

Yoko headed towards a bus stop that awaited a bus back to Hirasaka. Meanwhile in Kounan, Shuujinkou was walking normally back home with Marisa right behind, Yasaka kept an eye on the two girls to make sure they wouldn't kill each other, they quite obviously hated each other. Shuujinkou wasn't fond of this random girl just appearing and starting to live with her, to her, Marisa was but an enemy that she hasn't needed to fight, she'd think kill, but Shuujinkou had given herself a policy on never killing human beings. Marisa wasn't too fond of Shuujinkou's passive-aggressive attitude towards pretty much everyone around her, to Marisa, Shuujinkou was just some brat trying too hard to be cool who craved attention and recognition. In a way, she saw her much younger self in the girl, but she was willing to deal with her if it meant surviving. After arriving at the Hakurei Family Apartment, Yasaka left the two girls to their own business. Inside the apartment, Reiji had already arrived before the two girls and was quite obviously drunk from how many cans were in the table, he was laughing like a little kid.

"Uhh, you ok there Reiji?" Marisa asked awkwardly, taking a seat next to the man.

"Oooh? Ah, am fiiine. Muh kid's gettin' chased for life an' mah wwaif's nhat beck yet. Ihiha" Reiji replied sarcastically, even though he was extremely drunk, he was still able to stay rather comprehensible. Marisa grabbed a can herself and opened it.

"I get ya', sometimes, life just likes kicking one in the teeth. Hey Shuujin! Wanna drink with us?" Marisa smiled at Reiji, she really did know a little of what the man is going through, he was a good ten years older than her, but she could honestly admit to feel similar. She picked up another can and threw it at Shuujinkou offering to drink with them.

"Fuck off." Shuujinkou coldly rejected Marisa's offer and immediately batted the can back at Marisa's face with her Persona, knocking the petite woman off her chair and onto the floor.

"Yeahahaha! I jusht LOVE it when muh kid gets violent!" Reiji sarcastically scolded Shuujinkou, even amidst his drunkenness, he was a father first.

"Shut up. Go to your room you drunken wretch." Shuujinkou harshly snapped at her father before using her Persona to carry him to his room, Reiji struggled, but his drunkenness and Hakurei-Kami's superhuman strength were more than a match for his undeveloped skills. Upon leaving him in his room, Shuujinkou went back to the dining room and picked up all empty cans of alcohol along with the one in Marisa's face and threw them to the trash, excluding with the one she was given, that one she just left in the freezer. After messing around enough, she went to take a bath.

"Owwww. Shit, Shuujin's a tough one, she even refuses to drink like it's nothing, weirdo. Still, I did the same to my old man. Guess I AM a piece of shit like her." Marisa got back up from the hit after some time in the floor. She complained while rubbing her forehead and smiled sadly knowing just how much of herself she sees in Shuujinkou.

"I'M HOOOOOME!" Serafina's voice snapped Marisa from her trance causing the witch to turn around abruptly.

"Geez! I was surprised there!" Marisa complained.

"Lemme guess, Reiji got drunk and our baby dragged him to bed again? She's quite the Tsundere about helping her father." Serafina smirked as she spoke in her usually unsettling tone of false friendliness. Marisa shuddered.

"Y-yeah. Question: Doesn't Shuujin drink?" Marisa asked awkwardly.

"That is quite illegal, you come from a more primitive time. How old were you when you first drank?" Serafina asked curiously after explaining Marisa why her daughter rejected the offer to drink.

"I was 13 or so. Geez that was a whopping 20 years ago, I'm getting old already." Marisa casually replied, she began to look back on her life, she was already 33 years old. By Gensokyo standards, Marisa was at the tail end of her lifespan, most humans who participate in the line of combat die young in the battlefield or from the severe damage that they take shortening their lives.

"Look at you! Thinking you're old. You should become a comedian Mari. I'm already a decade or so older. So don't go calling yourself old yet." Serafina laughs at Marisa after reassuring the woman of still being young.

"That explains why you're such a dumbass!" Shuujinkou insulted Marisa as she descended from the upper floor, she had taken a bath, though her dye was already reapplied. She wore her usual Black shorts and white shirt with a dismissive message written on it, this one said "Wanna end in a dumpster or a coffin?".

"Grrr, I'm gonna make you cry, I swear!" Marisa glared at Shuujinkou aggressively.

"Why don't you two take it to the roof? Your lover's quarrel is getting annoying." Serafina smiled at the two girls after speaking in her cheery yet terrifying voice, the girls gulped and left for the roof with Shuujinkou taking the lead.

At the roof of the complex, Shuujinkou and Marisa gazed at the city below them. The lights were like a second starry sky on the ground which left Marisa in awe of it's beauty. From Shuujinkou, emerged her Persona taking her form once more.

"The time for I to explain it all to the two of you is nigh. The truth about my status as God, the Hakurei Family, Youkai and Gensokyo itself. Marisa Kirisame, I honestly hope you take our side on this conflict." Hakurei-Kami spoke in his usual masculine voice, contrary to the female form it took. He gazed upon Marisa with honest trust in the Witch.

"Unlike your shitty fantasy land, here in reality, you either pick a side, or you die. I can care less, if you side with me then good, I don't need to kill you and hide your corpse tonight, if you don't I don't care, it means I get to beat you to death you cave clashing, adulterous, piece of shit of a degenerated bitch of a witch." Shuujinkou added nonchalantly. Marisa tried to feel intimidated, but the girl's extensively cartoony insult was among the most hilarious she'd heard.

"I shall begin..." The Persona began his long, tale. One of hate, trickery, death and oppression.

Note from the author: I'M NOT DEAD YET! I was just depressed and had to rewrite this WAY too many times. And as the total hypocrite that I am, I shall put this on a brief hiatus. No worries, the fic will go on. Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHUUJINKOU!~(she turns 16 tomorrow October 14 2018).


End file.
